Our mission is to prepare young people to be strong in all aspects of their lives. We strive to cultivate an atmosphere of academic excellence, respect, and sense of community. We value innovative ideas and make decisions that help ensure student's learning and success. We provide multiple opportunities for students to be actively engaged both in and out of the classroom.

Vision:

Salem Junior High Spartans are strong in Body, Heart, and Mind. Our Bodies are actively engaged in school sports, extracurricular activities, and keeping ourselves physically healthy. Our Hearts advocate for respect and loyalty among our peers, teachers, staff, and administrators. Our Minds are innovative, open, and driven to strive for academic excellence and critical thinking.

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February 2017

The students of the month for February have been announced. These students have really impressed their teachers with their work ethic and great attitudes. Here at SaJHS we try to recognize as many students as possible who are doing great things. Make sure to congratulate them if you see them

The following instruments were shown: Oboe, Flute, Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, and Bassoon.

Mr. Stolworthy brought the 7th grade beginning woodwind class to visit Mrs. Peery's and Miss Swenson's class yesterday to show them the woodwind instruments and play some songs for them to identify. Songs included "7 Nation Army" "Light Em Up" "Rude" "Pompeii" and some simple songs like "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and "Old MacDonald." These are our two self-contained units in the school and the kids really appreciate it when other students come by to share their time and their talents. They loved the songs and everyone had a great time. Mrs. Peery said that she heard one 7th grade musician exclaim that she would like to visit those classes and play her instrument for them every day. Just one more example of our great students being Spartan Strong.

When most people think of a teacher they think of a crabby adult with not enough sleep, too much coffee and a bad attitude. But nobody ever wonders how the teachers got there, I interviewed several teachers on how they got where they are now and here are their responses.

Mr. McGrath: His story was a really interesting one to me it was more finding out what he loved to do in life than to make a buck, (plus if your a teacher, I don’t think money is ever going to be your motivation). He told me about how he was stuck working in a job that he didn’t like, he didn’t feel like he was doing what he needed to do. “I wanted to do something that I felt mattered” McGrath told me when I asked him what his motivation was. He told me his favorite part about teaching was the pivotal influence on teenagers, working with them through their trials and helping then with their ideas. “I love helping them reach their potential to help them find out what they are really capable of”. A teacher’s purpose is “To teach kids to be life long learners, as long as you’re able to learn that’s what matters.”

Ms. Howard told me her story about how she got into teaching, she couldn’t picture herself doing anything else besides teaching kids and inspiring youth on their path to success. “Some of my middle school teachers were intimidating so I wanted to make middle school a more positive place” She wanted to inspire a love of learning that would last her kids throughout the rest of their lives. “Everyday is exciting and different” She loves working with the kids seeing their new ideas in action. Ms. Howard has had a truly unique experience becoming a teacher. A teacher’s purpose is ” To encourage kids love learning and school to inspire them to succeed.”

This is article one of a teachers purpose check back next week to see more of your teachers backstories. And That is a teachers purpose.

We are doing a shoe drive up until February 17th. Our goal is to collect 1000 shoes that will be sent to needy kids in Africa or they will be recycled and the money from that will help communities by paying to build wells and farms among other things.

Our SaJHS National Jr. Honors Society is teaming up with Miss Utah to collect shoe donations to help the needy abroad. The Shoe Drive is collecting shoes from now until February 17. We want any type of shoes you can give us. They give away shoes that are in good quality, and even shoes that aren't usable can be recycled and the money is used to help people. Send your shoes with your students. Our goal is to get 1000 shoes!

It is that time of year for the annual school play and the drama department is super excited to present Guys and Dolls based on a story and characters by Damon Runyon.

The play is based in the 1930’s starting out with Nathan Detroit’s (Zac Webster) efforts to find a different place to run his illegal craps game without the police finding out. He needs to secure the place to have it but he is $1000 short on the money he needs to run it while hiding it from his fiance miss Adelaide (Pheobe Terry) star of the hot box. That is where Sky Masterson (Jacob Ith) enters. Nathan bets Sky the $1000 he needs that he cannot take Miss Sarah Brown (Hannah Veach) a very spiritual woman that is very against sinning to Havana. You will have to come and see what happens next

The play will be held at 7:00 on Feb 21, 22, 24, and 25 at Salem Jr High (598 N Main Street, Ut 84653) The cost for adults is $5, the cost for kids is $3, and the cost for students with your student ID is $3. The play has been super fun for the students and have helped them learn many skills. Thanks you to all the teachers who have helped with the play (Ashworth, Guthrie, Ortiz, and Daniel) they have had a great time! The students have worked super hard so come and support them!

It wasn't well publicized, but on Saturday, February 28 Chamber Singers had the opportunity to go to Abravanel Hall and be a guest choir for the State Honor Choir event that was held. This is a very high honor for the choirs to be invited and Abravanel is the premiere performing venue in Utah.

Not only were they invited, but they gave one of the most stunning performances. They are singing well beyond their years in both technique and repertoire this year. We have a very special group. They represented the school well and I am really proud of them. Take a listen! Make sure to listen from 5:30 to 6:50. You won't regret it!

Somehow in the craziness of December, we forgot to post who the students of the month were. Thank you to parents who reminded us of this, so we could make sure that December's group got the recognition that they deserve. Congratulations to the students of the month for December.

We interviewed a few teachers from the school. We interviewed Ms. Jackson a 7th grade teacher, Ms. Gonzales an 8th grade teacher, and Ms. Mendenhall a 9th grade teacher. We asked the teachers what's going on in math right now. We asked them if they preferred to teach with aleks, and we asked them what their favorite subject to teach in math is.

Ms. Jackson is currently teaching proportional relationships right now in math. She says that Aleks is good for teaching but she prefers normal teaching instead of Aleks. Her favorite subject to teach in math is teaching probability.

Ms. Gonzales is currently teaching angle relationship in math honors and graphing in normal math. She says that Aleks is beneficial, and a good reminder. She doesn’t have it right now but she wants to get it. Her favorite thing to teach in math is solving system of equations.

Ms. Mendenhall is teaching discrete and continuous functions in math honors, and she’s teaching systems of equation inequality in normal math. Her favorite subject to teach in math is just solving equations. She prefers to teach with Aleks. She also says that more people need to do math munchers because there are only about 15-20 total who do it each month.

This past week our school has been talking about being resilient. We’ve discussed how to be resilient, and what it means to bounce back. You’re not alone in feeling left out or unnoticed. Be positive it always makes you and others feel better, making you more noticeable. Being positive sparks the flame of resilience. A positive attitude is hard for some people, you attract what you focus on, if you’re always pessimistic you’ll see everything as bad and unhappy. Those who are always complaining attract those who complain. Those who are always happy and smiling and friendly attract those who are happy.

Our school deserves a happy and welcoming atmosphere. Say hello to others you don’t usually recognize. Praise others on their accomplishments. Make this school a place that people want to come to, a place to feel comfortable, safe, and wanted. Being positive and welcoming makes you more resilient, it makes you more confident the word positive is code for,”I can do it!”. Keep smiling and you can confront anyone or anything and take it on. You can accomplish any dream you aspire to complete. Make our school the best it can be! GO SPARTANS!!